Journal of Advanced Sport Technology
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) is an injury caused by vigorous exercise along the posterior medial part of the tibia. Kinesio Taping (KT) has emerged as a preferred approach for the management of MTSS due to its non-invasive, minimal discomfort, less time-consuming, and lower side effects. It has been used as a therapeutic tool in prevention and rehabilitation protocols. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of lower leg KT on ankle proprioception, static and dynamic balance in athletes suffering from MTSS. Thirty-two male athletes (20 – 32 years old) with MTSS participated in this study. They were randomly divided into two experimental (KT) and control (placebo) groups. The way athletes entered the study was based on the leg pain questionnaire based on Yates and White criteria. Measurement tools included a universal goniometer, a single-leg stance test, and a Y-balance test. Ankle proprioception, static and dynamic balance were measured in both groups before and after 24 hours of use of lower leg KT. The results showed that lower leg KT was effective in improving the ankle proprioception of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion, static and dynamic balance in athletes with MTSS and the difference between the experimental and control groups in all study variables was significant. Based on the findings of this study, it can be suggested that athletes with MTSS use lower leg KT to enhance their proprioception and balance, which could lead to improved performance.

The present study aimed to determine the extent to which female athletes display asymmetrical or symmetry patterns in lower limb three-dimensional mechanical muscle power during gait. Thirty healthy female professional bodybuilders participated in his study. Their three-dimensional data of both lower extremities during walking was collected using a ten-camera Vicon motion capture system and two Kistler force plates. The peak mechanical muscle power of lower limbs in all three planes was calculated (P≤ 0.05). The results showed that except in the ankle joint, there were significant differences in third mechanical muscle power peaks of the knee and hip joints in sagittal plane (H3S, K3S), first and second mechanical muscle power peaks of knee joint in frontal plane (K1F, K2F), and second mechanical muscle power peak of hip joint in horizontal plane (H2T). In addition, the findings confirmed approximately 25% local asymmetry in the mechanical muscle power in the hip and knee joints between the right and left limbs.

The objective of the current investigation was to conduct a biomechanical analysis of human gait based on the Unsupervised machine learning – Artificial Intelligence approach. Twenty-eight junior active males participated in the study. Following the placement of the markers, the participants were asked to complete the gait task in a 10-meter gateway where the dominant leg contact was placed on the third step and non- non-dominant leg on the fourth step. The task was executed in two separate attempts, first by the preferred speed of the participants and second with a steady speed of 100BPM. The Hierarchical approach consisting of Nearest Neighbor and the utilization of Z score was employed to discern uniform gait biomechanical patterns of the entire participant according to the values of joint angles and joint moments in both conditions - preferred and steady speeds by SPSS software version 26 (p<0.05). Considering a combination of both kinematics and kinetics parameters, in preferred speed, the hip and knee in the vertical direction for both dominant and non-dominant limbs are classified in one cluster, but in a steady speed, the hip in mediolateral direction and knee in the vertical direction for both dominant and non-dominant limbs are presented in one cluster. The kinematic and kinetic variables are useful in gate clustering to categorize gait patterns. These variables can be subdivided into homogeneous subgroups for a more detailed understanding of human locomotion.

The purpose of this study was to design shoe insoles for people with neck pain. In this study, elastic polymers and elastomers matrials were used to design the insole body. In the specific part, a polymer ring with emollient materials was used. Fifteen male students with neck pain were volunteered to participate in the present study. The pain intensity was measured after 120 mile walking with and without designed foot orthoses. Visual analog scale (VAS) index was used  for pain assessment. Shapiro-wilk test affirmed the normal distribution of the data. Paired sample t-test was used for statistical analysis using SPSS software version 26. A significant level of P≤0.05 was considered for all tests. The results of the present study showed that the designed insole reduced pain in people with neck pain (P=0.006). Overall, further studies were needed to better establish this issue.

Obese and overweight individuals strive to burn more calories per unit of time through walking, which is one of their main goals.  The necessity of walking with shoes with the capability of burning more calories per unit of time compared to common shoes was very noticeable. This research aimed to compare oxygen and energy consumption between running with biomechanical beach simulator shoes and sports shoes with polyurethane soles in overweight women. In this semi-experimental and applied research, 16 overweight women were selected. A researcher-developed beach simulator shoe enhances muscle activation in the lower limbs and abdomen through two main mechanisms and by using the specialized knowledge of sports biomechanics. Consequently, this enhancement leads to increased oxygen and energy consumption compared to common walking shoes. The test protocol consisted of three stages with speeds of 3, 5, and 7 km/h on the treadmill, each stage lasting 3 minutes. The statistics related to oxygen and energy consumption were collected by Metamax gas analyzer and through calculations. The statistical method of Two-way analysis of variance test with repeated measures was used to test the hypotheses and analyze the data at a significance level of 0.05. The findings showed that the beach simulator shoes can significantly increase oxygen and energy consumption in overweight women (significant levels of 0.05 and 0.03 respectively). According to the findings of the present research, the beach simulator shoe was able to increase the oxygen and energy consumption of a person by using two layers of balls and hydrodynamics, compared to sports shoes with PU soles. Beach simulator shoes were able to burn more calories per unit of time than PU sports shoes.

This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of Kinovea software in assessing the position sense of knee joint. Methods 15 female students of physical education and sport science (20-25aged) participated at this study voluntarily. In this study, knee joint position sense was measured using photography (Kinovea software) and goniometer methods and calculation of the reconstruction angle and reconstruction angle error methods at three different closed kinetic chain knee flexion angles of 120, 135, 150 degrees while open and closed-eye conditions. SPSS26 software and Pearson correlation method was used for data analysis. The significance level was set at α= 0.05. The reliability of Kinovea and goniometer measurements were assessed using test-retest method. Also, the correlation between the Kinovea and goniometer measurements were used for the assessment of validity of Kinova software in evaluating knee joint position sense. Results showed that Kinovea software has high validity in assessing the knee joint proprioception in all three different knee flexion angles of 120, 135, 150 degrees and eyes open and closed conditions(p<0.05) and there were significant positive correlations between two methods under different conditions. Also, both Kinovea and goniometer methods had high repeatability (p<0.05). Kinovea software has high validity and reliability in assessment of knee joint position sense. So, this software can be recommended as a valid, reliable, easy, efficient, and cost-effective method for assessing knee joint proprioception in sports and clinical settings.